Certain products are suitable for being boxed and transported for further treatment. For example, some varieties of berries may be collected in large containers before they are cleaned, sorted and packaged for retail sale. The containers used in such operations are sometimes very large, occupying space which could be better utilized if the boxes could be folded and stacked during storage. In answering this need, collapsible containers have been designed such as were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,380. These collapsible containers are often very heavy and considerable manual labor is required to re-assemble them.
This invention relates to an improved method for handling collapsible containers of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,380. More specifically, it involves a device and method to re-assemble collapsed collapsible topless containers which are designed to be broken down for stacking, storing, and transporting. The method consists of unfolding the collapsed container by lifting it by one of its sides and depositing the unfolded container onto a pallet, which releasibly engages two opposing side walls.
The object of the present invention is a non-manual system for manipulating collapsed collapsible topless wooden containers of the type having four sides pivotal to each other and a base. Adjacent sides of the container are hinged together by means of two or more flexible straps. In an assembled container the sides are releasably attached to the base by means of at least two sets of U-shaped clips on two opposing side walls of the container. Specifically, the system re-assembles the collapsed collapsible topless containers by unfolding the collapsed sides and placing the unfolded sides onto the base.
The system consists of an elevator-transfer sub-unit and an assembler sub-unit which act cooperatively. The elevator-transfer sub-unit has an upright element which is attached to a base element, a roller-slide device which is capable of moving up and down the upright element and a means to move the roller slide up and down. A horizontal suspension arm which is fixedly attached to the roller slide extends laterally and towards the assembler sub-unit. An inverted T-rail is pivotally attached to the suspension arm. An air driven piston/cylinder-device which connects to the T-rail and suspension arm pivots the T-rail. A trolley with at least one set of wheels runs along the T-rail. A first grasper is pivotally attached to and suspended from the trolley. The first grasper has a means to engage one side of a collapsed collapsible container releaseably.
The assembler sub-unit comprises a base member and an upright member. A horizontal arm is fixedly attached to and extends laterally from the upright member. It is directed towards the suspension arm of the elevator-transfer sub-unit. A second grasper is pivotally attached to the distal end of the horizontal arm and is capable of receiving the ends of two opposing sides of an unfolded collapsible. The second grasper engages the container, rotates 90 such it such that it is in an upright position over a base. When a container is positioned over a base, the container is released and it falls unto the base to which it is releaseably attached by U-clips. The cycle can be repeated by leaving the first grasper over a collapsed container.